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Published: August 2nd 2013
Hello, Everyone,
The President actually came, so now it is all over. What a relief. Nothing went as we planned, but apparently the President was quite taken with a beating heart on the SMART board, so was entirely happy with the school and his visit. For a brief week or two the people in Windhoek love us. We were the BIG story on the news that night which we all gathered to watch. I was on Namibian television! Really, me.
As it turned out, people came from Windhoek about three days before and took over the preparations. We were decorated, tents were set up, new furniture, enough chemicals and bones and things to make Potemkin labs. So I don't know if the President knows that we actually do not have anything for any sort of science laboratory work.
We had planned a really super big program for entertaining the other guests between 8:00 and 10:00 when the president would arrive. We had lots of bigwigs. We also had a big dance with 120 kids dancing, more modern, for the President. The main program was dancing by different culture groups and singing by various choirs. I was in charge of the Vambo dancers. There is a woman who cleans in the school from Vamboland who is a good dancer, so she was coaching the kids and helping them decide what to do and how to make it really good, not just fun. I was just the liaison between the group and the organizers, and I planned when and where to practice. The learners were so amazing. I think I got some good video of the dancing. The one I liked best was the Damara - Nama dancing. I'm not sure if you can hear the music, and for this particular dancing you need the music. I'll work on posting video.
On Saturday night (the Pres. came on Monday, the 22nd) we had a dress rehearsal that went really well. It was such a good show. Then on Monday, one of the choirs sang, but the Permanent Secretary of education did not want the cultures being separate, so we couldn't show different culture groups, and that was that. No performance. Apparently there is some tension between some of the different cultures, and they worry it will erupt. But our show was not causing divisions. They were all cheering each other and loving the different groups. The kids were so disappointed and they behaved so well. The 120 kids did get to dance for the Pres., so that was good, and they did it well. But the kids had been really proud of their dances and it was just sad. After everyone left, some of the groups danced for each other, but it wasn't the same.
The President has a body guard, but not secret service. They are huge, thuggy looking guys with guns, and they arrived Friday. On Monday, we had to go over about 7:00. To get through the gate from the hostel area to the school area I had to be patted down and I had to take a picture with my camera so they could see it wouldn't blow up and really was a camera.
The day before, I met the Minister of Education, Dr. Namwani. I didn't know who he was. Lucia and I were finishing decorating and cleaning up our classroom, and a group of people came around. I shook hands and was chatting, then Mr. Kabachani, who is not deputy minister, but deputy permanent-secretary, told me that this was the Minister. So like an idiot, I took his hand and shook it again. He was quite nice and wore a sort of cowboy hat. Later he and the principal were walking toward the girls' hostels. We signalled to the principal to slow down, then ran ahead to get the girls to take all their laundry in. They use all the banisters and railings to hang their laundry. They were fast, so he had a nice, clean tour of the hostel.
In general, the build-up and preparation was exciting and exhausting, and the visit itself was fairly anti-climactic. I didn't get anywhere near the President. Just got to see him when he made a speech. He did say some good things, though. I was not exactly impressed, but pleasantly surprised. He talked to the girls about "sugar-daddies" and getting pregnant, and how they should avoid that. He told them that if some man offered them anything, they should say that they already had a sugar-daddy called Mr. Education.
Kavango, where we are, has the highest rate of teen-pregnancy, and the highest rate of HIV/Aids. He was pretty blunt, and he did it well. Along the same line, there is a big campaign going on for men to get circumcised to help prevent the spread of HIV. One of our teachers, the biology teacher, had it done, and then took his five-year old son to be done, also.
The next day after the presidential visit, everyone felt like it was a holiday, and our principal was quite cheerful. After classes he decided to open the sports area. The grass isn't well rooted yet, so we can't use the soccer field, but there are two netball courts, two basketball courts, a volleyball court and a tennis court. All of us went out there to play, and there were only two injuries, because they were playing on stone with bare feet. I tried shooting baskets, which I was never that good at, but am now positively lousy at. Then I tried tennis, also not impressive. So then I told them how I'd been on a swim team and had a silver medal in breast stroke, and a bronze in back stroke. I did not mention that I was twelve in Fairbanks when there were three swim teams in the entire state: Fairbanks YMCA, Anchorage Spa, and Elmendorf. I got away with saying that swimming was really my sport. At one point I suggested that the school needed a swimming pool, and the principal thought it would be a good idea. In a drought-ridden country where people are having to slaughter their cattle because all the grass is dead!
I read through some earlier blogs and saw that I was using prepositions about as well as my learners, and my spelling was pretty bad. I will proofread this one.
We started exams yesterday (Thursday) and I invigilated Thimbukushu. I was handing out papers, but could not even read the directions. Fortunately, everyone knows the drill, so it didn't matter. Today they did their English, so now I have a stack of papers to mark. Lucia's uncle died from a brain tumor, so she had to leave and is, I think, having to plan the funeral and take care of everything. She doesn't really trust me to do the marking correctly. She thinks I am too soft. However, there is an answer key which says what is okay and what isn't. But maybe she'll come back to mark them and I won't have to! I have to do my 8th graders as well. They have three parts. The first part was the composition and a shorter writing: book review, formal or informal letter, diary entry, things like that. Thirty of them. Then Tuesday they take the next part called "Reading and directed writing." They read various things then answer questions about what they read, or write summaries, or fill in forms, etc. Then the following Monday, the listening test (on a DVD).
Robin just emailed that she was sitting on her deck in Keppoch with her computer in her lap, drinking a wine spritzer. I am really ready to retire again. Anyone who is interested, I fly into JFK in NYC early in the morning on Dec. 10th. I'm going to stay a few days, so don't yet know when I'll get to Anchorage.
It is getting late and I have an exciting, full day of paper marking tomorrow. My biggest news this week is that Wednesday I found green peppers and tomatoes at a roadside stand and had a delicious omelette for dinner tonight. My newest favorite snack is apple slices dipped in peanut butter. Mmmmmmm!
Not sure what I am doing on my holiday (2 weeks) this time, but I hope I will have some adventures to report.
Love, Wendy
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Shirley Gordon
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I give you an A plus
You write so well that I feel I had been there. You will have to write a book. You will be glad for these blogs when you are 90 as I am and can't remember any more!